I have been in the position of trying to moderate a large and growing community—it was at 500k users last I checked, although I threw in the towel around 300k—and I know what a thankless, sisyphean task it is.
I know what it is to have to explain the same—perfectly reasonable—rule/norm again and again and again.
I know what it is to try to cultivate and nurture a garden while hordes of barbarians trample all over the place.
But...
If it aint broke, don’t fix it.
I would argue that the majority of the listed people penalized are net contributors to lesswrong, including some who are strongly net positive.
I’ve noticed y’all have been tinkering in this space for a while, I think you’re trying super hard to protect lesswrong from the eternal september and you actually seem to be succeeding, which is no small feat, buuut...
I do wonder if the team needs a break.
I think there’s a thing that happens to gardeners (and here I’m using that as a very broad archetype), where we become attached to and identify with the work of weeding—of maintaining, of day after day holding back entropy—and cease to take pleasure in the garden itself.
As that sets in, even new growth begins to seem like a weed.
I have been in the position of trying to moderate a large and growing community—it was at 500k users last I checked, although I threw in the towel around 300k—and I know what a thankless, sisyphean task it is.
I know what it is to have to explain the same—perfectly reasonable—rule/norm again and again and again.
I know what it is to try to cultivate and nurture a garden while hordes of barbarians trample all over the place.
But...
If it aint broke, don’t fix it.
I would argue that the majority of the listed people penalized are net contributors to lesswrong, including some who are strongly net positive.
I’ve noticed y’all have been tinkering in this space for a while, I think you’re trying super hard to protect lesswrong from the eternal september and you actually seem to be succeeding, which is no small feat, buuut...
I do wonder if the team needs a break.
I think there’s a thing that happens to gardeners (and here I’m using that as a very broad archetype), where we become attached to and identify with the work of weeding—of maintaining, of day after day holding back entropy—and cease to take pleasure in the garden itself.
As that sets in, even new growth begins to seem like a weed.